skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

What other apps and distros do you use to round out your studio?

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Joermungand
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Joermungand »

Capoeira wrote:that's the real problem......no alternative if everybody is using skype
Alas, that’s true. I don’t know to what extent this is feasible in various cases, but, as the Archlinux Wiki recommends securing/isolating Skype by various means anyway, including using it with a special user, I think Pulse could be configured to only run within that user’s session, otherwise not interfering with one’s regular user session. Just a thought.
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Capoeira
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

Joermungand wrote:
Capoeira wrote:that's the real problem......no alternative if everybody is using skype
Alas, that’s true. I don’t know to what extent this is feasible in various cases, but, as the Archlinux Wiki recommends securing/isolating Skype by various means anyway, including using it with a special user, I think Pulse could be configured to only run within that user’s session, otherwise not interfering with one’s regular user session. Just a thought.

see what user stupidus did: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php ... 7#p1428737
Joermungand
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Joermungand »

Capoeira wrote:see what user stupidus did: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php ... 7#p1428737
Yes, something like that is what I had in mind, too.
Thad E Ginathom
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Thad E Ginathom »

Skype runs on an android phone. How would people feel about using it that way, rather than regarding as something they run on their PC?
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Capoeira
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

so, I installed pulseaudio

I added

Code: Select all

pactl load-module module-jack-sink channels=2; pactl load-module module-jack-source channels=2;pacmd set-default-sink jack_out
as script after startup in qjackctl

actualy I like the fact that I don't need the loopback device anymore to use skype with jack

running fine
Thad E Ginathom
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Thad E Ginathom »

falkTX wrote:
Thad E Ginathom wrote:Skype runs on an android phone. How would people feel about using it that way, rather than regarding as something they run on their PC?
skype must be the most slow and/or bloated software ever made. I have a very cheap tablet and skype is too slow to be anywhere usable.

even while it's idling in the tray on the laptop, it still manages to use 5% cpu sometimes.
makes you wonder what the hell that thing it's doing...
Oh for the days when Skype just did audio calls, simply and well. Never to be seen again.

Whilst I have used it on my very modest Motorola Defy+, the last time I did so ...it crashed in mid call. I mentioned it because I thought better/newer phones might do better.
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

I'm very happy with puseaudio......skype works much better now than with loopback device
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by TVu »

Ah, the Classic Linux audio user cuss-out of Pulseaudio.

I recall when the thing was first introduced, yeesh! It earned a bad rep amongst most regular Ubuntu users as-well as audio folks. Nowadays a bit better but, 'still a little ugly on its dumb side'.

Running it on something alongide jack? To get Skype, of all things? I wouldn't trust it not to grab an unused audio device and share a personal call via a full set of stage monitors. :lol:
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Capoeira
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

TVu wrote:Ah, the Classic Linux audio user cuss-out of Pulseaudio.

I recall when the thing was first introduced, yeesh! It earned a bad rep amongst most regular Ubuntu users as-well as audio folks. Nowadays a bit better but, 'still a little ugly on its dumb side'.

Running it on something alongide jack? To get Skype, of all things? I wouldn't trust it not to grab an unused audio device and share a personal call via a full set of stage monitors. :lol:


I don't understand it....I have 0 problems with it
emarsk
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by emarsk »

I don't understand what's all this fuss around Pulseaudio. Do you guys really need to run Skype with Jack? Really? I mean, Jack is used for pro-audio work, do you really do pro-audio work while Skype is running??
When I do audio work I run Jack. When I use Skype I run Pulseaudio. I never need them to run together. (I shouldn't have an active wifi while running Jack anyway.)
Pulseaudio is just a tiny bit of disk space wasted if it's not runnig, it's not some magical curse that will destroy your finely tuned distro just because it's installed. Just make sure that it's not started at boot time, put "autospawn = no" in its client.conf file and you're fine, you have full control over it. Run pulse, run Skype, close Skype, kill pulse. Problem solved.
Or am I missing something?
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http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by bluebell »

Beginners who want ro run jack all have the same problem: pulseaudio.
- They don't know that it blocks their soundcard.
- They don't know how to stop it.
- They don't know how to configure it to output via jack sink.

After that, pulseaudio is no problem anymore, even if client programs start it automagically.

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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

you guys must have missed that pulse doesn't block the soundcard anymore. when jack is started pulse frees it
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Capoeira »

falkTX wrote:
Capoeira wrote:you guys must have missed that pulse doesn't block the soundcard anymore. when jack is started pulse frees it
the "pulseaudio-module-jack" package that handles the pulse-jack thing is not installed per default on any Debian or Ubuntu distribution except for UbuntuStudio and KXStudio.

so for those users, pulseaudio does block jack.

ok, I see.....on Arch it works out of the box (if you install it)
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Aistis »

Since there is already a thread about this f****** skype software, i wanted to ask if anybody is having issues with skype constantly changing the sampling rate, it drives me crazy! Anytime something happens in skype, even if i turn off all sound it changes the sampling rate of my system and some music that was playing in the backround is suddenly upscaled to micky mouse land. How do i block this piece of turd from playing around with the sampling rate?
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Re: skype cuts suport for alsa....and now?

Post by Fire_String »

I agree with the majority sentiment here. Skype (Microsoft) ditching ALSA is a bit piss poor. Also, not having a native 64 bit is, again the same. If it's really important to get/send a message use email or agree another VOIP with your closest contacts (easier said than done, but hey).
JACK with Cadence tools is the 'dog's danglies'. I'm glad the likes of falkTX et al have enabled JACK to become a defacto sound server for a complete desktop system. I will not compromise it with crap software unless my life absolutely dependended on it.

JACK for the win. 8)
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